Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Why Doctors Once Cut Off John Mellencamp’s Head
UltimateClassicRock ^ | 12/6

Posted on 12/06/2023 1:36:34 PM PST by nickcarraway

John Mellencamp describes himself as the luckiest person in the world while recalling the dangerous surgery he underwent as an infant.

The 71-year-old was born with the most serious form of spina bifida. His spine and spinal cord weren’t fully formed, a potentially fatal situation that can lead to lifelong problems for those who survive.

“I had my head cut off when I was six weeks old,” Mellencamp tells Esquire. “There were three other kids who had that same operation that day. The other kids died, and I lived. One girl made it for a while, and I used to see her at basketball games. She was paralyzed from the neck down. She died when she was about, I don’t know, 13.”

His early health challenges didn’t lead to a clean lifestyle, though. “I used to love to street fight,” Mellencamp admitted. “I didn’t care if I won or lost. It was the adrenaline of fighting another male. I used to like to get drunk, get a little stoned, go into a bar, and pick a fight with the biggest guy I could find.”

That changed one night when “this guy beat me up so xing bad, he just left me like a wet rag in the alley,” Mellencamp said. “I was unrecognizable to myself the next morning. I looked in the mirror and said, ‘John, the drugs and alcohol are not working out for you.’ I never had a drink or smoked pot or did any drugs after that. I was 21 years old.”

Mellencamp says he still smokes a pack of cigarettes a day, claiming he remains “a really good smoker.” As for his diet, Mellencamp said: “People will research for days a flat-screen TV they’re thinking about buying. They’ll research the x out of buying a car. But then they’ll go to the grocery store and put any goddamn thing in their mouth that they’re selling. They don’t give a x what’s in it.”

His survivor’s instinct is strong – as illustrated when he said: “If you listened to some of my first albums, you’d ask: ‘Why did you even continue?’ My first records are that bad. My first paintings are that bad. Terrible. But I kept going.”

Mellencamp hated being called “John Cougar” by his record label, but he’s come to realize that it had made him “work twice as hard as I probably would have” to keep the name from overwhelming his artistic ambitions. Referring to his 1982 hit “Jack & Diane,” he added: “In the ‘80s and ‘90s, I hated singing the line ‘Life goes on, long after the thrill of living is gone.’ Now I love it. … My goal is to get to 80. That gives me 10 years. Do you know how fast 10 years goes by for me? I’ve got only 10 summers left … not that long.”

Mellencamp also offered a definition of luck, built from his own experiences: “Luck is thinking you’re lucky. If you think you’re lucky, you are.”


TOPICS: Health/Medicine; Music/Entertainment; Science
KEYWORDS:
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-26 last
To: Pelham

Yes I was thinking about his survival after having his head cut off.

Good thing for music, pity for politics/society.


21 posted on 12/06/2023 2:30:23 PM PST by Phoenix8
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 9 | View Replies]

To: Round Earther

I heard it hurt so good.


22 posted on 12/06/2023 2:41:07 PM PST by Alas Babylon! (Repeal the Patriot Act; Abolish the DHS; reform FBI top to bottom!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: Alas Babylon!

I wonder if life will go on once the thrill of living is gone?


23 posted on 12/06/2023 2:43:57 PM PST by Sirius Lee (They intend to murder us. Prep if you want to live and live like you are prepping for eternal life)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 22 | View Replies]

To: nickcarraway

And they left it up his ass.


24 posted on 12/06/2023 2:50:45 PM PST by Fledermaus (It's time to get rid of the Three McStooges; Mitch, Kevin and Ronna! 1 gone, 1 almost dead. )
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: nickcarraway
Meg Ryan and John Mellencamp announce engagement in 2018


25 posted on 12/06/2023 3:05:33 PM PST by newfreep ("There is no race problem...just a problem race")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: nickcarraway

Can we start a gofundme or something to do it again?


26 posted on 12/06/2023 6:47:01 PM PST by Horkster (Cho-Bai-Den - resident-inept)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-26 last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson